Dublin may have a St. Patrick’s Day festival that draws tens of thousands of people, but it doesn’t have a Grand Leprechaun like Dublin, Ohio, does.

Nevertheless, Dublin — the one in the East Bay — always has boasted about its festival, a two-day affair that draws people from the Tri-Valley and beyond to partake in a green pancake breakfast, a parade, a fun run, music, art and crafts, and sales.

This year’s event will take place Saturday and Sunday.

But other U.S. cities with Irish-sounding names take equal pride in the holiday celebrating the patron saint of Ireland.

In Emerald Isle, N.C., for example, the St. Patrick’s Day festivities just aren’t complete without The Little Mr. and Miss Leprechaun contest. Each year costumed children from 2 to 5 years old answer questions and win prizes.

Shamrock, Tex., has its traditional St. Patrick’s Day lawnmower race.

Dublin, Ohio, with a population of about 39,000, throws a St. Patrick’s Day parade that has drawn about 19,000 people. Despite a recent snowstorm, the parade — which has been held annually for about 20 years — is scheduled to go on as planned Saturday.

The city is working on making its parade a “TV-quality production parade,” said Buddy Caplinger, event administrator in Dublin, Ohio.

Ohio’s Dublin takes its Irish pride very seriously. It even hosts a three-day Irish festival in August, which Caplinger called the second-largest Irish festival in the country.

“It’s very strong and it’s not taken lightly,” Caplinger said. “Our convention and visitor’s bureau changed its slogan to ‘Irish is an attitude.'”

Each year, the city chooses a Grand Leprechaun instead of a grand marshal for the festivities. This year its 98-year-old Lois Dixon, who has lived in town her entire life.

When the Emerald Isle festival started 17 years ago it drew about 1,000 people and featured the Marine Corps band and a handful of arts and crafts booths.

Last year, the vacation city — which boasts of 3,600 year-round residents — drew about 15,000 people to the St. Paddy’s Day event.

“We draw people from a four- to five-state area,” said Alesia Sanderson, Emerald Isle’s director of parks and recreation. Some attendees come from as far as Virginia and New Jersey, she said.

The Friday night before the weekend bash, the city hosts a concert featuring an up-and-coming recording artist. This year the featured attraction is Mica Roberts, a country singer who used to back up Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The festival features a beer garden, 20 food vendors and 75 arts and crafts booths.

In Shamrock, a town of about 2,000 people in northern Texas, this year’s St. Patrick’s Day festival theme this year is “Red, white and blue.” The three-day festival brings in about 20,000 people, said Connie Wilson, secretary of the Shamrock Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event.

“It’s the largest event of the year,” she said.

Dublin, Ga., has a huge celebration that starts on Feb. 16 and ends March 30. Super Saturday, which this year falls on March 15, is one of the most popular days and features an arts and craft fair.

Nicole Ward, the 2008 chairwoman of the city’s festivities, said the six-week celebration also features a beauty pageant for 8- to 12-year-old girls, a balloonfest and a pancake breakfast, which has become a sort of a community family reunion.

“If you go there and don’t see somebody you know, you must be from California,” Ward said, adding that even those Golden State visitors may spot someone they know.